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Category Archives: we remember you

In this section we will write the names of those who have died as a result of the brutality of the past and current regime, if and when it is possible to do so (names most times are withheld on the say so of the Australian Government!!), and if and when permission is given by representatives of those who have been slain.

3.45pm WST – It seems asylum seekers have been found on shore at Christmas Island. The Shire President (Gordon Thompson) is reporting that the vessel sank on Monday, that there are around 30 people involved and that, as yet, there are no reports of deaths.

I have just seen a tweet from Oliver Laughland of the Guardian Australia that “Those on board have been living on a remote beach for the past 3 days. 8/9 were found by police wondering up a main road on CI earlier today”

The West Australian is reporting that, “A group of Burmese asylum seekers appears to have arrived on Christmas Island undetected. Christmas Island residents said a group of asylum seekers had been been discovered wandering on a remote road on the eastern part of the island this afternoon. They claimed to have arrived on the island on Moday when their boat came ashore at the remote Dolly Beach. Another larger group had remained behind at the beach while others went for help. They said there had been no fatalities.“

Later in that same report was the following wich seems to indicate a second vessel!

A man identified as Chris said he had heard a boatload of Sri Lankan asylum seekers had run aground on Greta Beach. “Apparently their boat has wrecked,” he told Macquarie Radio. “The Navy have raced over there. I heard the situation was quite bad.” He said the beach was small and surrounded by extremely high cliffs. It’s believed the boat arrived about 11am.”

Different beach – three days or a few hours? One boat or Two?

UPDATE

Herr ÜberGrossenFührer Morrison has broken his “no information” rule and announced that there has been an incident on the South East Coast of Christmas Island. To me that sounds like a sinking or a boat which has run aground on the rocks.The same thing happened in December 2010. Surely, with the increased and much touted surveillance our new “Border Protection” has brought to the area, no Asylum Seeker vessel could make it that close to the Island without being spotted! There is some incompetence shown here and I do hope it has not cost any lives.

Sue and I had been watching a sudden flurry of movement by HMAS Larrakia and an unknown vessel up and down the East Coast of Christmas Island and wondering at the reason. We suspected an unexpected arrival but did not dream that the Minister would be telling us so quickly.

Further updates will be made as available.

This Morning

Yahoo Australian News is reporting that “Another asylum vessel has arrived on Christmas Island – the third to make it to Australia since Indonesia said it would end all cooperation on people smuggling. Officials on Christmas Island say a vessel carrying about 60 people was intercepted last night. The passengers have been transferred at sea to a larger border protection vessel.” (Thanks Sue)

The “larger Border Protection Vessel” is probably ACV Ocean Protector which explains why she has hidden herself from the Live Marine Traffic sites. The question is, “Will these people be landed before 9am EST tomorrow so that they can be included in tomorrow’s press conference”?

Reports are that there are still around ten boats out there heading towards Christmas Island.

FURTHER UPDATE:

3.45pm WST – It seems asylum seekers have been found on shore at Christmas Island. The Shire President (Gordon Thompson) is reporting that the vessel sank on Monday, that there are around 30 people involved and that, as yet, there are no reports of deaths.

I have just seen a tweet from Oliver Laughland of the Guardian Australia that “Those on board have been living on a remote beach for the past 3 days. 8/9 were found by police…

Residents help survivors of the boat that sank off the coastal village of Cianjur in Java. Photograph: AFP

Survivors of a boat that sank off Java claim the Australian embassy ignored a distress call. Twenty-two asylum seekers have been confirmed as drowned but authorities in Indonesia fear that number may rise to more than 70.

“I called the Australian embassy; for 24 hours we were calling them. They told us just send us the position on GPS, where are you,” one survivor, Abdullah, a man from Jordan, was reported as saying by Fairfax media. “We did, and they told us, ‘OK, we know … where you are’. And they said, ‘We’ll come for you in two hours’.

“And we wait two hours; we wait 24 hours, and we kept calling them, ‘we don’t have food, we don’t have water for three days, we have children, just rescue us’. And nobody come. Sixty person dead now because of Australian government.”

One of the passengers, a Lebanese man, had reportedly lost his pregnant wife and eight children in the disaster.

Just 25 of those aboard had been rescued before efforts to locate survivors were postponed on Friday evening due to failing light.

It’s believed to be the first fatal attempted asylum-seeker crossing under the Abbott government, and comes after another group of 44 asylum seekers were rescued by an Australian navy vessel in the Sunda Strait on Thursday.

The boat that sank on Friday had departed from the fishing village of Pelabuhan Ratu, in the Sukabumi regency, on the south coast of western Java. It first got into trouble about 10 hours into its journey and efforts were made to return to Indonesia before it sank.

A police official from the district of Cianjur in Java said authorities were alerted to the incident after bodies were discovered floating in an estuary on Friday morning.

“We have now found 22 dead bodies, most of them are children as they cannot swim,” the official said, according to news agency AFP. He said the boat had broken into several pieces.

A spokesman for the Indonesian search and rescue agency, Basarnas, said his office was not advised of an incident involving an asylum seeker boat until 3pm local time on Friday.

He said the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority had contacted Basarnas about the boat.

The latest tragedy in waters between Indonesia and Australia comes amid a ramping up in tensions between Canberra and Jakarta over the asylum seeker issue, and days ahead of talks in Jakarta between Tony Abbott, and the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Abbott and Yudhoyno will meet on Monday, with asylum seeker policy expected to be at the top of the agenda.

Strong waves are preventing Indonesian rescuers from continuing the search for survivors on Saturday morning.

“The waves are just too high for our speed boats to go out yet. They’re four to six metres. We hope conditions improve soon,” Warsono, a police official in Cianjur district on Java, told AFP, adding no helicopter had been deployed.

NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION STOP DEATHS IN CUSTODY. On the eve of this day of action, Castlemainians and Friends are invited to meet at the Castlemaine Market Bldng Steps. We will remember John Pat and the hundreds of other people who have died in custody, send love to their families and communties and pay tribute to those who continue the struggle. Friday 27th September 2013 Castlemaine Market Bldng Steps, 6pm. Bring a Candle